Vaporizer



Patented Oct. 12, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates 'Lo an electrically heated vaporizer of the type provided with a pair of prongs adapted to be inserted into an electrical outlet such as a conventional wall socket.

Vaporizers of the above type are usually in the form of a housing provided with a pair of prongs adapted to be inserted into an electrical socket. Within the housing there is arranged a heating device usually of the resistor type and a chamber adjacent the heating device into which one or more tablets containing or formed of a volatile or air difusible substance are arranged to be positioned. The table compartment is usually disposed above the heater and the housing is suitably vented at the top and bottom to promote a natural iiow of air upwardly through the housing. One of the problems associated with vaporizers of this type arises from the fact that wall sockets are sometimes installed with the holes for the male prong members aligned horizontally, and at other times wall socket installations have the holes for the prong members aligned vertically. Therefore, with the conventional Vaporizer of the type described above, the heater and tablet compartment assume proper relative positions to each other when the prongs are aligned lin one direction but assume inefiicient and improper relative positions when the prongs are aligned in a direction 90 to the first named direction.

Another problem associated with electrically heated vaporizers is concerned with the differences in the vaporizing or melting temperatures of the diierent types of tablets used in conjunction with the vaporizer. Some tablets vaporize at a relatively high temperature and other tablets, such as those containing paradichlorobenzine, commonly used for mothproong, vaporize at a very low temperature. If it is intended to use the vaporizer with various tablets having different vaporizing temperatures, it is obvious that the vaporizer must be designed to vaporize those tablets which vaporize at a relatively high temperature. When a tablet having a low vaporizing temperature is used with a vaporizer designed to operate satisfactorily with a tablet having a high vaporizing temperature, the heat generated by the heating device usually melts the tablet before it vaporizes it, in which case the volatile ingredient of the tablet drips through the vent openings on the lower side of the housing.

It is an object of this invention to provide a very eflicient electrically heated vaporizer that is designed to be used with equal facility in a plurality of differentl positions.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a vaporizer which is relatively small in size but which lhas a relatively large capacity.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a vaporizer which is equally adapted for use with tablets that vaporize at a relatively high temperature and with tablets that vaporize at a relatively low temperature.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the vaporizer of this invention mounted on a wall socket.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the lines 2--2 in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the vaporizer positioned with its electrical prongs extending vertically upwardly.

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the vaporizer.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines 5 5 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken along the lines 6-6 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the lines 1 1 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the lines 8 8 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a tablet adapted to be used in conjunction with the vaporizer of this invention.

Referring to the drawings there is illustrated a conventional Wall socket at I0 which is arranged to be mounted within a suitable receptacle in a wall (not shown). The socket l0 has a cover plate l2 attached thereto as by a screw I4. The vaporizer of this invention comprises a housing i6 which supports a pair of spaced apart prongs I8 adapted to be inserted in the corresponding apertures 2Q in socket IG. Housing l is preferably fashioned as complementary front and back members 22 and 24 which can be advantageously molded out of a plastic material. The members 22 and 24 are fashioned with flat faces 26 and 28, respectively, which form the front and back walls of housing IB and with correspondingly contoured side walls 3D and 32. Rear wall'ZB is provided with a pair of spaced apertures 34 therethrough which are enlarged on the outer face of Wall 28 to provide recesses 36. Front wall 2B is provided with sockets 36 (Fig. 6) which align with holes 34 in rear section 24 when the two housing sections are juxtaposed one upon the other. Screws e@ pass through openings 34 and have their heads seated in the recesses 3S and the opposite ends thereof threadedly engaged With sockets 3S so as to securely fasten the sections 22 and 24 together. Sockets 33 are formed in bosses 42 which are molded integrally with the side wall and front wall 26 of member 22. The two housing sections are provided with interengaging dowels and sockets 44 which aid in maintaining the two sections in fixed relative positions when they are secured together.

Front Wall 2E and rear wall 28 are fashioned with opposed recesses 46 and 48 on the inner faces thereof, these recesses being disposed at the centers of the respective walls. Recesses and 48 are arranged to receive the ends of a heater 5D, preferably of the resistor type which extends perpendicularly between the two sections of the housing. Prongs I8 project through rear wall 28 and have their inner ends connected with the opposite ends of the resistor 50 by relatively rigid wires 52 which serve to electrically connectthe prongs with the heater and to support the heater in a relatively fixed position on back member 24.'

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be noted that the interior of housing I 6 is substantially hollow and that the side wall sections 30 and 32 are apertured as at 54 to provide a plurality of regularly spaced access openings around the housing. Walls 26 and 28 are molded with opposed integral ribs 56 on the inner face thereof which extend radially from the central recesses 46A and 43 to the side walls 30 and 32 at approximately the center of openings 54. The extent of the openings 54 in a direction transversely of the walls 26 and 28 is less than the distance between these walls so that the side walls of the'housing cooperate with the ribs 56 to form shallow wells 58 adjacent the inner faces of walls 26 and 28.y Ribs 5t are'of sufficient height to project intoand partially 0bstruct the aperture formed by the openings 54 in the side walls of the housing.

The heating device is adapted to be used in conjunction with the tablet illustrated in Fig. 9 and generally designated 60. The tablet is made of or contains a volatile or air diiusible material having the characteristics required in the air treatment desired by use of the vaporizing de-` vice. The volatile or air diifusible material of the tablet may, for example, bea deodorant, a perfuming material, or a germicide or a combination of such materials. The tablet Si) is preferably circular in shape and is formed with'aligned diametric grooves S2 on the opposite flat faces thereof. The openings 54 are of a size to receive tablet 60, and the ribs 56 are adapted to engage Within the grooves 52 so as to position the tablet within the housing as is illustrated by the dotted line showing in Fig.k 5. TabletsV of the type adapted to be used in conjunction with 'electrically heated vaporizers must, of necessity, be fairly thick `and substantial in size so that they are capable of being handled and shipped by ordinary methods. In addition, the tablets must be relatively large so that, when used,their usefulness will not be exhausted too rapidly. On the other hand, I have found that tablets having the size suitable for handling and shipping are usually too large to permit complete diifusion or vaporization. I have found that the provision 0f a groove, such as shown at 62, on the opposite faces of the tablet not only aids in supporting the tablet within the housing but alsoincreases the effective surface area of the tablet and thereby facilitates complete diffusion and vaporization.

When it is desired to use the vaporizer, such as for the purpose of imparting a pleasant odor to a room, the device may be inserted in a wall socket of the type illustrated in Fig. 1. Holes 54 are preferably four innumber and are arranged with respect to the prongs I8 so that, regardless of whether the wall socket is mounted on the wall with the openings 20 horizontally aligned as illustrated in Fig. 1 or with the openings 20 vertically aligned, one set of openings 54 will always be disposed at the upper end of housing I6 and the other set at the lower end of the housing. Likewise, the ribs 56 are disposed centrally with respect to the openings 54 and at an angle of approximately 45 to the plane of prongs I8. Therefore, regardless of which position in which the vaporizer is mounted, either with the prongs vertically aligned or horizontally aligned, at least two tablets can be inserted in the upper portion of the housing and retained in positions adjacent and symmetrical with respect to the heating device 50. At the same time, the lower end of the housing is always provided With at least two openings which facilitate a natural flow of air upwardly through the housing around the tablets supported in the upper portion of the housing and 'outwardly through the openings 54 `at the upper end of the housing.

The central positioning of the heating device 50 and the radial arrangement of the-ribs-56 and the openings 54 therefore provide an arrangement which facilitates an efficient diffusion of the tablets by reason of the uniformly radiated heat and the natural iiow of air through-the casing and around the tablets regardless of the position in which the device is mounted.

Some tablets used in vaporizers of this type, such `as tablets containing disinfectants, odor neutralizers and the like, do not disintegrate with use but merely change color when the vdisinfectant material contained-within the tablet is dissipated. One of the advantages of the vvaporizer of this invention lies in the ease of vits main-` tenance and use with tablets of the type which become discolored after their usefulness has been exhausted. It will be noted that the tablets, when supported within the Vhousing ofthe device, are visible and readily accessible without removingv the vaporizer from the Wall socket and With#- out disassembling any of its component parts. Therefore in large buildings where many of these devices may be used it vis only necessary for the attendant to glance at the vaporizer While itis in operation todetermine whether the tablet should be replaced. If a tablet is exhausted, he merely removes the exhausted tablet and replaces it with a fresh one without removing the vaporizer fromthe Wall socket.

In public rest rooms vaporizers of the type disclosed herein are often removed by unauthorized persons. In order to eliminate this possibility, the rear wall 28 may be provided with a pair of diagonally arranged apertures B4 which, when the vaporizer is `mounted on a wall socket, are aligned with similar openings 56 Vin cover plate I2 so that screws 68 may be threadedly engaged with the vaporizer housing from the underside or rearside of cover 'plate I2. The housing I6 is accordingly recessed at opposite sides thereof as at 10 to permit access, as by means of va screwl driver, to screw I4.

When it is desired to use tablets having a relatively low vaporizing temperature, such as tablets containing or formed of paradichlorobenzine, the vaporizer is preferably used in conjunction with a drop cord outlet in a room with the prongs I 8 `projecting upwardly. The heating element 50 is designed to supply sufficient heat to vaporize tablets having a high vaporizing temperature and therefore, when paradichlorobenzine tablets are used with the vaporizer, the heat supplied by the heater 50 is more than adequate to vaporize the mothproong tablet and, as a matter of fact, it has a tendency `to par-tially melt the tablet. As the tablet melts, the drippings fall into the wells 58 and the liquid accumulating in these Wells is gradually vaporized by the heater. The provision of the wells 58 therefore prevents lo-ss of the insecticide and overcomes the serious objection to conventional vaporizers of the type wherein the drippings from the tablet fall through vent holes at thelower end of the housing. Furthermore, it has been determined -that the quantity of tablets necessary for effectively killing moths and the like in a closet of conventional size is considerably greater than the number of tablets that have to be employed in a vaporizer of this type when it is desired to simply neutralize obnoxious odors and impart a pleasant fragrance and aroma to a room. It will be noted that, when the vaporizer is used in the position illustrated in Fig. 3, four tablets may be inserted in the vaporizer. The central location of the heating element 50 therefore tends to maintain the size of the vaporizer housing at a minimum with respect to the capacity of the vaporizer.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a very efficient vaporizer which may be used in a plurality of different positions Iwith the same degree of effectiveness. The vaporizer is designed to promote `a natural 110W of air through the housing which facilitates -diifusion and evaporization of the tablet.y In addition, the central disposition of the heating element renders the va'porizer more universal in its use and makes for compactness. It Will also be noted that the radial arrangement of the ribs 56 in combination with the well formations 58 enables use of the vaporizer with the prongs I8 extending vertically rather than horizontally, and in such position the vaporizer is adapted to be used in conjunction with tablets which have a relatively low vaporizing temperature. Furthermore, the tablet described herein with the grooves on the opposite faces -thereof .are admirably suited for use with electrical Vaporizers. The grooves not only serve to provide simple means for retaining .the tablet within the va-porizer but also increase the surface area of the tablet and decrease the thickness of the tablet at the center portion thereof so that complete diffusion or vaporization of the tablet can be obtained.

I claim:

1. An electrical vaporizer comprising a generally hollow housing having a front wall, a rear wall and a peripheral Wall extending around said housing between said front and rear walls, a heating device in said housing supported generally at the center of said rear wall, a pair of spaced apart prongs projecting rearwardly from said rear wall and connected with said heating device, said peripheral wall having at least four openings therein disposed lcircumferentially of and symmetrically with respe-ct to said heating device, said openings being arranged such that the radial axis of each opening through said heating device is inclined at an angle of approximately 45 to the plane of said prongs, and rib means within said housing for supporting a tablet adjacent each of said openings in spaced relation to said front and rear walls.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said rib means comprise opposed rib members on said front and rear walls extending generally radially `from said heating device towards each of said openings.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein the edge portions of said openings are spaced inwardly of the inner faces of said front and rear Walls.

4. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said openings have a `width in a direction transversely `of said front and rear walls less than the transverse distance between said front and rear walls and wherein said rib means comprise opposed rib members on said front an-d rear walls extending generally radially from said heating device toward each of said openings, said rib members projecting from the inner faces of said front and rear Walls a distance such that the free longitudinal edges of said rib members extend into said openings as projected radially inwardly of the housing.

References Cited in the `ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSl Number Name Date 314,212 Wright Mar. 17, 1885 739,317 Jenkins Sept. 22, 1903 1,349,326 Davis Aug. 10, 1920 1,641,183 Martin et al Sept. 6, 1927 1,845,432 McRae et al Feb. 16, 1932 2,154,803 Bancroft Apr. 18, 1938 2,513,919 Costello July 4, '1950 

